[AMA] Importing & wholesaling for resale on eBay.

[Dicky Dee]

Econ man,

Have you imported a big amount by freight before? Im asking because i have a big shipment coming in which weighs about half a ton and have a customs agent handling the paperwork at the border as well as delivery from the port to my city, any tips on ways i can save costs perhaps if i didnt use the agent for future shipments?

 

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[Ecom man]

Thank you for starting this thread, it's helped answer so many questions I've had about this process. I've ordered my first batch of samples this week and am waiting on delivery.

I have a couple of questions coming out of this process:

1. Is it ever worth shipping larger volumes via freight? I've found a number of great products that have an awesome price/pc, a ton of commerciality, but where the air express shipping destroys profit due to weight. My suppliers keep telling me it really should be shipped freight.

2. Similarly, I'm finding that if I order a larger volume after samples, the profit margins go up quite a bit. How many pieces are you purchasing once you find a product and supplier you trust?

Thanks again!

I ship air to expedite the testing samples/ finding products that sell well. If you have a product that you know sells and can save a large amount by shipping freight then I would certainly go for it.

After sampling a supplier/ product i normally order 100's at a time. I let the sales dictate how many i order. If it is selling 100+ a week I would order a little more than a months worth so 500 or so. I try to order a month at a time because between the order is placed and receiving it is normally 2 weeks or so. I try not to run out of any products if possible. (It does happen sometimes though)

 

[Ecom man]

Econ man,

Have you imported a big amount by freight before? Im asking because i have a big shipment coming in which weighs about half a ton and have a customs agent handling the paperwork at the border as well as delivery from the port to my city, any tips on ways i can save costs perhaps if i didnt use the agent for future shipments?

Sorry but I always order items that are small enough that I have shipped solely by DHL, FedEx, etc. at this point.

 

[JustinBoshans]

Hey ecom man! To date I've made over 100 dollars profit just from my first item. I know that isn't a ton but it was mostly passive, and has funded all the rest of my next items. Thanks again man you rock! Rep transfered

 

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[Ecom man]

Hey ecom man! To date I've made over 100 dollars profit just from my first item. I know that isn't a ton but it was mostly passive, and has funded all the rest of my next items. Thanks again man you rock! Rep transfered

Congrats!!! That's awesome to hear. The first $100 turns into the first $1,000 that turns into the first $10,000!!!!! Keep at it and never give up!

 

[ProblemSolver]

Hey ecom man! To date I've made over 100 dollars profit just from my first item. I know that isn't a ton but it was mostly passive, and has funded all the rest of my next items. Thanks again man you rock! Rep transfered

Did you use eBay or Amazon? Or both?

 

[Mike.B]

To date I've made over 100 dollars profit just from my first item.

Nice! I've been sitting on my first product for over a week now with no sales. I'll probably end up taking a loss, if I can sell them at all. $300 down the drain (possibly). Second product is taking forever to ship; hope it does better.

 

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[Ecom man]

Nice! I've been sitting on my first product for over a week now with no sales. I'll probably end up taking a loss, if I can sell them at all. $300 down the drain (possibly). Second product is taking forever to ship; hope it does better.

The item not selling is the barrier to entry in this business. People get in 1 item that doesn't sell and they throw in the towel and say it doesn't work etc. (fill in all the excuses we all hear on a daily basis) Keep at it and you will find "the one" gold mine item! Just think... All it takes is one item to change the future!

 

[Meynstey]

I ship air to expedite the testing samples/ finding products that sell well. If you have a product that you know sells and can save a large amount by shipping freight then I would certainly go for it.

After sampling a supplier/ product i normally order 100's at a time. I let the sales dictate how many i order. If it is selling 100+ a week I would order a little more than a months worth so 500 or so. I try to order a month at a time because between the order is placed and receiving it is normally 2 weeks or so. I try not to run out of any products if possible. (It does happen sometimes though)

Awesome, thanks Ecom man! I've been talking with a number of freight forwarding companies today to get an idea of the cost/hassle to import by sea. I figure even if it adds to the cost, it's absolutely worth not having to manage/worry about the process.

The number of products makes perfect sense. Although, most of what I've found is in the 15-30 per mo. range (per listing). Gotta keep digging for those 100's per week/mo. niches.

 

[Mike.B]

The item not selling is the barrier to entry in this business. People get in 1 item that doesn't sell and they throw in the towel and say it doesn't work etc. (fill in all the excuses we all hear on a daily basis) Keep at it and you will find "the one" gold mine item! Just think... All it takes is one item to change the future!

I just hope I don't have to go through a bunch of products before I find one that sells. I put a lot of time into researching my current product but people obviously don't want the generic version. If my second product doesn't sell, I'll be out $550. I know it's not much, but it's a lot to me right now. Looking forward to my first sale!

 

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[Ecom man]

I just hope I don't have to go through a bunch of products before I find one that sells. I put a lot of time into researching my current product but people obviously don't want the generic version. If my second product doesn't sell, I'll be out $550. I know it's not much, but it's a lot to me right now. Looking forward to my first sale!

Hey $550 is a lot of money to many people i completely understand not wanting to lose it. Before completely chalking them up for a loss shoot me a pm with your eBay/Amazon link and I will see if I can figure something out. You might just need to drop the price or maybe it isn't a high volume product.

 

[ZCP]

I just hope I don't have to go through a bunch of products before I find one that sells. I put a lot of time into researching my current product but people obviously don't want the generic version. If my second product doesn't sell, I'll be out $550. I know it's not much, but it's a lot to me right now. Looking forward to my first sale!

Expect a lot of failures before finding an item that works. Your mindset must be changed or you will fall to wayside and say 'I quit. This is too hard.' Did you really expect to be a smashing success with one item out of the gate? Fail. Fail hard. Fail fast. Learn. Adapt. Overcome.

Go see Edge of Tomorrow. Really like its theme when you pull it over to the business world.

 

[Mike.B]

Hey $550 is a lot of money to many people i completely understand not wanting to lose it. Before completely chalking them up for a loss shoot me a pm with your eBay/Amazon link and I will see if I can figure something out. You might just need to drop the price or maybe it isn't a high volume product.

Thanks, I'll reach out to you if my recent price change doesn't draw any interest. I appreciate you taking the time!

 

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[Mike.B]

Expect a lot of failures before finding an item that works. Your mindset must be changed or you will fall to wayside and say 'I quit. This is too hard.' Did you really expect to be a smashing success with one item out of the gate? Fail. Fail hard. Fail fast. Learn. Adapt. Overcome.

Go see Edge of Tomorrow. Really like its theme when you pull it over to the business world.

It's not that it's too hard, I just cannot afford to throw away thousands of dollars looking for a $100 return. My girlfriend is already calling me an idiot for "wasting" $500.

No I'm not looking for a smashing success I was just hoping to sell at least one by now; people are buying the name brand product.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet.

 

[DrkSide]

It's not that it's too hard, I just cannot afford to throw away thousands of dollars looking for a $100 return. My girlfriend is already calling me an idiot for "wasting" $500.

No I'm not looking for a smashing success I was just hoping to sell at least one by now; people are buying the name brand product.

I'm not ready to through in the towel yet.

Are you just selling the item as generic or did you private label it?

 

[Mike.B]

I went back and looked at the stats for the last 30 days. The person in the #4 position has only sold 3, so we'll wait a while and see what happens.

 

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[Mike.B]

Are you just selling the item as generic or did you private label it?

Did not brand it, just the generic.

 

[DrkSide]

Did not brand it, just the generic.

You may need to build a brand around the product. This may not be as necessary on eBay as it is on Amazon but it gives more legitimacy to the product and gives people confidence to buy it.

 

[Mike.B]

You may need to build a brand around the product. This may not be as necessary on eBay as it is on Amazon but it gives more legitimacy to the product and gives people confidence to buy it.

I definitely think so with this product. The two brands that are selling well have been around for a long time, and a very well known and trusted.

 

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[Kristof]

Epic thread, thanks a lot for all the info Ecom. Man! Started researching products yesterday and have sent a message to enquire about a sample to one manufacturer on Alibaba. Might send out a private message to you to see what you think of the product if I get a reply from the manufacturer (if you're too busy to answer, no worries at all of course).

I also just found this podcast about Nemo Chu who apparently built up an e-commerce empire (7-figures) in 1.5 years, he had some pretty interesting insights to share. A lot of it similar to Ecom's story, though it sounds like Nemo focusses mainly on products that are heavily advertised on TV and other media. Here's the link to the podcast if anyone's interested:

http://mywifequitherjob.com/episode21/

 

[Tyman]

Just woke up to an eBay notification that one of my listings sold! First imported product that I've ever sold and it paid off half of the price to get all of them in the first place. Still have 19 more which will be almost all profit, thank you for this thread!

 

[exclusives88]

My orders were shipped today, hopefully I can start selling soon. Each package cost me 2.88 and I should be able to sell them for $10. I still have not been able to find a product that profits $20 on a item that is under $30

I ordered through dhgate.com . I found that dhgate prices usually include shipping cost. About 90% of the quotes I get from Alibaba overcharge on the shipping. Does anyone prefer using dhgate over Alibaba?

Alibaba unit prices are cheaper but including the shipping/freight, it ends up exceeding dhgate.

 

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[Mike.B]

I just received my second order today and It's not even close to what I ordered! Argh! This company took forever to process my order and still got it wrong. Shipping was fast though ... If only I had what I ordered. Sigh ...

 

[Ecom man]

I just received my second order today and It's not even close to what I ordered! Argh! This company took forever to process my order and still got it wrong. Shipping was fast though ... If only I had what I ordered. Sigh ...

I hate it when that happens. Complete waste of time and money

 

[Ecom man]

Just woke up to an eBay notification that one of my listings sold! First imported product that I've ever sold and it paid off half of the price to get all of them in the first place. Still have 19 more which will be almost all profit, thank you for this thread!

AWESOME!!!! 1 item selling pays off an order of 20???? Even better!!! Way to go!

 

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[jazb]

My dad ordered an item the other day, but it says he has to go to a local retailer to pick it up. OP have you seen this happen much?

Sounds like this guy is just dropshipping via retailers (and F*cking over the consumer in the process). This guy even has the audacity to make him pick it up as well.

 

[Ecom man]

My dad ordered an item the other day, but it says he has to go to a local retailer to pick it up. OP have you seen this happen much?

Sounds like this guy is just dropshipping via retailers (and F*cking over the consumer in the process). This guy even has the audacity to make him pick it up as well.

I have never heard of that before. That is either a really messed up system or this guy is the local retailer. The seller could get screwed over easily because without delivery confirmation every single person could do a chargeback and win every time.

 

[ddzc]

My dad ordered an item the other day, but it says he has to go to a local retailer to pick it up. OP have you seen this happen much?

Sounds like this guy is just dropshipping via retailers (and F*cking over the consumer in the process). This guy even has the audacity to make him pick it up as well.

Did your dad pay for shipping? If so, that's an absolute scam. If not, then the guy probably had an ebay listing which allows for local pick up only. In ebay, you can offer shipping OR local pickup only.

 

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[exclusives88]

Here is another question.

I've found 2 products that I believe would be great in the US. The products are selling in Japan and may be also manufactured in Japan. On Alibaba, there is another manufacturer that sells a very similar product. I am not able to tell if the Japanese company has a patent on it. I'm afraid that if I import the china manufacturered product, I may be sued by the Japanese company. Any thoughts around this? Have you ever ran into a issue similar to this?

 

[Mike.B]

I hate it when that happens. Complete waste of time and money

Yeah, I'm just hoping they make it right and ship the correct product. I bought this product on Aliexpress because it was a better price and cheaper shipping. Now I wish I would have used one of the manufacturers on Alibaba, even if it was more expensive. Live and learn.